Vanderbilt kept its hot start rolling Tuesday night, handling Memphis 105-81 at home in a game that turned into a showcase once the Commodores settled in after halftime.
The first half had plenty of back-and-forth. Memphis kept pace for most of it, answering Vanderbilt’s early barrage with tough finishes at the rim and steady work in the midrange. But the Commodores were sharp from the jump, shooting 63% in the first 15 minutes and knocking down seven of their first 11 attempts from beyond the arc.
Vanderbilt did create some separation early, pushing the margin to 40-31, before Memphis answered with a 9-0 run to pull level. Still, the Commodores found a way to go into the locker room ahead thanks to T.O. Barrett, who buried a buzzer beater to send Vanderbilt to halftime with a 47-42 lead.
The real separation came after the break.
Ace Glass took over from deep, and the Washington State transfer buried his first four three-point tries of the second half before drilling a fifth in the first seven minutes. That burst helped Vanderbilt blow the game open.
The defense tightened too. Vanderbilt held Memphis to two makes on its first 11 shots of the second half and limited the Tigers to one make in their first seven three-point attempts. The Commodores also began winning the battle on the glass, which only added to the pressure.
At one point, Vanderbilt stretched the lead to 24 points. Memphis managed a run to trim it back to 15, but the Commodores never let the game slip out of control.
Vanderbilt finished at 57% from the field and went 15-for-32 from three. The Commodores also made 18 of 24 free throws. Glass led the way with 23 points, Tyler Tanner added 17, and Berke Buyuktuncel finished with 16.
Buyuktuncel also paced Vanderbilt on the boards with eight rebounds, part of a 44-29 edge on the glass for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt will try to keep the momentum going later this week when it hosts Prairie View A&M at 6 p.m. CT in Memorial Gymnasium on SEC Network+.
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